Portugal — Eco Akamai

Bo played in European Satellite tennis tournaments in Portugal after college and he has always wanted to come back to explore. Voila! We are here for Spring Break 2023 with Ryder and Sam (Mak’s Spring Break is earlier and he sadly cannot join us).

We managed to out fox another snow storm and catch our flight to Portugal. After a brief touchdown in Amsterdam, we land in beautiful Lisbon and are greeted by a sea of terracotta tiled roofs. This is the first time I’ve been back on continental Europe since I was pregnant with Ryder and he will be 18 next month. It is so good to be back! We picked up our rental car, which is surprisingly a generous size, yet still a stick shift. We land at the Corinthian Hotel which is beautiful and full of amenities. After getting settled, we head out to explore our neighborhood and discover the Garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian. Dinner was back at the hotel at the Sky Lounge, “A Taste of Soul, featuring a combining both Asian and Latin American influences.” We devoured chips and guacamole alongside super creative sushi and sashimi. Sam started to fade around 9pm and we headed back to the room. A great first day!

We loved our Tuk Tuk Tour with Paulo (that I booked on Viator and was chartered by I took a tuk tuk which is a wonderful company)! We passed Ramiro where Anthony Bourdain filmed (and next time, when we have more time, we will queue up to eat there). Our first stop was the Old City, then to Grassa, to Fado for cherry liqueur, LX Factory, and nd we went to Pasteis de Belem for a pastel de nata which was delicious! Then we visited the Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém, which are Unesco sites. The sailing statue was super interesting and I love that a woman included. And the Pink Street was awesome with the umbrellas!!! Interesting fact is that there are 148 churches in Lisbon. We loved the Time Out Market Lisboa for lunch and we enjoyed sushi and a sushi taco at Confraria and Bo got mediterranean goodies at Manteigaria silva. Back at the hotel, Ryder plugged in his US power strip and blew the power for their room, so we headed to the bar to pass the time and Ryder got an education on how European Power systems work. Less is more indeed!

Dinner at Bohemia Lx - St António Casa de Fado for some traditional Portuguese food … which included mandatory listening while the singers were performing. Sam slept through most of dinner still hit by jet lag. I had to dorodo fish, Bo had the pork, and boys had the steak frites.

Our morning adventure was to Sinatra. We hired an orange tuk tuk to take us up to the Palace de Peña and passed beautiful properties and charming neighborhoods en route. A big bonus was that we drank from the fountain of youth … hope it works! Our driver dropped us off and we hiked up to the castle. We opted for garden passes as the castle ticketing lines were super long. Sam declared it one big mini-golf castle design. We hiked back down. and waited for our tuk tuk to arrive … and no one did and I don’t recommend booking with Sintra Welcome Centre. We hired another company that drove us most of the way … and after walking a wee bit more we found our original driver and he took us back to our car to make good on the delay. Then we headed up to Porto, passing colorful towns and beautiful landscapes as we drove North.

This is thought to be the inspiration for the balcony in Romeo and Juliet.

We love Tuk Tuk Tours so much, we booked another for Porto (and to book directly contact Tuk Tours Porto)! It was a pure delight with our awesome guide Vanessa. We passed Towers, Churches, the Douro River, the Train station with painted tiles, and took in the views of Luis I Bridge, from beautiful green Gaia. Our tour guide Vanessa was super informative and we learned so much about Porto! On her recommendation, we walked over to Mercado de Balhao food pavilion for lunch. We had several famous portuguese sandwiches and of course more custards.

We packed it up and drove to Figueroa da Foz to meet Tita, my friend I met in Antarctica. She’s one of my fellow travelers that thought I was Gwendolyn Christie. We met up at an adorable outdoor ice cream and crepe cafe on the water and had the best time. She treated the boys to monstrous ice cream and waffle treats and we told Bo so many funny stories from our Antarctica adventure. It’s so fun to meet friends when traveling and she is a gem. We sadly had to say goodbye and it was off to Santa Cruz.

At Noah Surf House, we love our Bungalow Mar & Cook #9 and the entire facility is active surf life perfect! The boys jumped on the trampoline and we enjoyed one of the best dinners of our lives at Noah’s restaurant. Cuddle fish, local cheeses with cuddle fish ink, garlic local shrimps that were a fresh texture. I had the sliced fish which was amazing Bo had the pork with a pot of deliciousness, Sam had the calzone and could only eat half, and Ryder had the burger which he loved.

Bo and I did an early Morning trek with Nunu which was a hike, some bouldering and a beach walk. The beach is beautiful and I found some green glass and a few small shells … bummer was that there is lots of micro-plastics which reminded me I need to plan an eco-tourism trip to clean beaches. Back at Noah, breakfast was sliced Kiwi for me and a veggie omelette for Bo.

Sadly the beach is full of micro-plastics. This has reinsured me to up my plastic-free lifestyle. Now that COVID is officially over, three years later, it is time for a refresh.

We adventured to Peniche to find surf. Supertuboes was too windy. Bo surfed at Peniche and has now officially surfed in Portugal. We took a bike ride in the afternoon and explored town. The boys jumped in the pool and hot tub as we enjoyed the newly opened rooftop bar. And to my surprise, I got Bo to join MTP and he is excited to travel the world together … especially if there are many stops in Portugal! Dinner was back to Noah’s restaurant and we tried the flaming sausage and the house salad which was quinoa and so unique.

Bo surfed in Peniche and we sadly had to pack it up and say goodbye to Noah Surf House. We drove past many dutch mini windmills and learned “Dotting the hillsides, particularly in coastal regions, are windmills that have been used in the country since the 11th century.” We landed in Mafra to see the castle and gardens, which were beautiful and we had fun exploring.

Then we started the drive to The Algarve and to our hotel in Sagres, The Martinhal Sagres Beach Family Resort Hotel. The landscapes en route were full of green fields, many trees and, stork nests. We drove out to the far far far tip of Sagres and it got more tropical with every klick. The resort is nestled in a cove and we adore our three bedroom condo as we were all in one room in Santa Cruz! We set out and explored the beach and then enjoyed dinner at the beachside As Dunas restaurant. For starters we had the calamari, ceviche, tuna tartar, and clams. Next was a round of local oysters followed by fresh grouper for Bo and I and burgers for the boys.

Bo and I enjoyed listening to all of the birds while we sipping coffee and watching the morning fog lift. We attempted to hike out to the Southwestern most point of Continental Europe, but it was further than we wanted to go. So we checked out some beaches and the pottery shop and headed back to the boys. We rallied for an afternoon at the pool and then drove to the point and the views were stunning! Bo researched a delicious spot for dinner and we enjoyed locally inspired nachos, taco platters, and another quinoa salad at The Three Little Birds.

No fooling, on April 1st, it’s time for us to start heading home. We spent the morning enjoy our beautiful view and accommodations. We decided to dive up the West Coast through the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejanoe Costa Vicentina and to see more of Portugal. We made a fun stop at Praia do Canal Nature Resort to check it out as it is an MTP location and I discovered the Mr. Mood brand in their shop, which is adorable. We loved driving up the coast and seeing all of the cute beach towns. We passed more nesting storks in high utility poles and the landscape reminds us of a mix of Oregon, Florida, and California. We hit a bit of rain as we pulled into cool Lisbon. Dinner was at our hotel’s ERVA restaurant and we enjoyed many Portuguese specialities. I loved my cauliflower soup and the vino verde.

And we were wheels up at 5am to get home by Noon, the same day. ObrigadoPortugal!